Chanyeol was sitting on my front porch, Prince squirming in his lap.

A bright smile graced his handsome features as I slipped out into the cool night air.

'Did you bring the stuff?'

I nodded, before asking curiously, 'where are we going? Why do I have to sneak out?'

Chanyeol shrugged, giving me a mysterious smile, and refused to answer my questions.

I wrinkled my nose unhapppily, 'and why do you want oranges anyway?'

Chanyeol shrugged again. 'I was hungry,' he replied nonchalantly, before starting to peel one of the oranges that I had stolen from my own pantry.

I rolled my eyes.

4D. I swear.

I tapped my foot impatiently.

He peered at me from beneath his long lashes, before letting out a bark of laughter at my cross expression.

'Come on, then,' he laughed amusedly, before tugging on my wrist, his long fingers making the loop easily.

i frowned a little, furrowing my brows at the strange child that was trying to take me somewhere against my will, and refused to budge. 'Tell me where we're going first.'

Chanyeol burst into another fit of laughter, before poking at the wrinkles that creased my forehead as i frowned at him.

'You trust me, don't you?'

I glared at him for a moment longer before sighing resignedly. i bent down to gather an excited Prince into my arms.

'Lead on, then.'

Chanyeol led me into the woods that bordered our backyards.

I've never been a big fan of darkness, but (although i would never admit it even if you threatened to burn my house down) I felt surprisingly safe in Chanyeol's warm grip.

We soon came to a small creek that gurgled a little in the quiet moonlit night.

The skies were clear and cloudless, the clearing the creek was in allowing us to escape the cover of the trees and to get an unobstructed view of the sky.

Chanyeol sank to his knees on the soft grass on the banks of the creek, pulling me with him. We soon found ourselves on our backs, gazing up at the night sky, the countless stars sprinkles of light that dotted the inky black canvas.

'There's Orion's belt.'

'There. Lyra.'

'Draco.'

'Hercules.'

'... I'm out.'

Chanyeol chuckled at my fail, his deep laughter reverberating through the otherwise silent night.

He pointed out a couple more, some of which I'd never even heard of before.

'How do you know so much about these constellations?' I asked curiously, still staring skyward, awestruck by the beauty of the twinkling lights that were burning brightly thousands of miles away.

'My dad. He used to tell me about them,' Chanyeol said quietly.

Something about his tone made me drag my eyes away from the beauty of the night sky.

Only to come face to face with another beautiful sight.

Chanyeol's profile was illuminated by the light the sparkling creek we lay next to reflected of the three-quarter-full moon. He gazed up at the sky, his expression a mixture of wistfulness and confusion.

I patted his tummy understandingly. He turned to smile down at me, a sad smile so different from the one he usually showed to everyone. He wrapped a lean arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. Prince wagged his tail as he lounged next to us on the grass.

I snuggled into Chanyeol's side. He was warm and provided some respite from the bitingly cold night air. I buried my nose in his shirt. He smelled nice. His scent reminded me of honey, firewood and hot chocolate, of all the things that made me feel warm and happy.

We stayed like this in a comfortable silence for another half hour, each immersed in our own thoughts.

Eventually though, we both acknowledged that it was time to go back, though we were both unwilling to leave the serene, peaceful creek, its surreal beauty unmarred by the meddlings of mankind.

Chanyeol walked me back to my house.

'I'll be taking my leave now, Your Bigness,' he teased, his eyes twinkling mischievously, his previous melancholy completely forgotten already. He bowed to me amusedly.

I tugged on the corners of my oversized woollen jumper, creating a makeshift skirt, before curtseying awkwardly.

Chanyeol chuckled, before leaning forward and pressing his lips to my hand.

'See you tomorrow, Princess.'

My heartbeat skyrocketed.

Long after Chanyeol had left, my heart was still thudding erratically.

What has this strange child done to me?